Pollution
Government investigates toxic firefighting foam used to feed compost
The Queensland government is investigating why a Swanbank compost manufacturer used water contaminated with toxic firefighting foam to feed its compost products.
- by Tony Moore
Latest
'It's just plastic, plastic, plastic': Fears for marine life as debris washes up on NSW beaches
A mass clean-up effort is under way after 83 containers fell off a cargo ship late last week.
Pollution
Cargo ship drops containers off Australia, nappies wash up on beaches
A cargo ship lost 83 containers overboard during heavy seas off Australia, and items including nappies and sanitary pads are washing up on beaches.
- by Alison Bevege
'Repeat offender' must be named and shamed for Dandenong Creek dump
Environmental experts debate whether thick white foam was caused by a deliberate dump or accidental spill – but unite in efforts to catch the culprit.
- by Joe Hinchliffe
Birds are dropping dead off Australia's coast, and it's all our fault
Confronting new images reveal the cost of Australia's obsession with plastic, with appalled scientists recovering hundreds of fragments from the stomachs of birds.
- by Nicole Hasham
Global warming
Someone is making a banned chemical that destroys the ozone layer, scientists suspect
Emissions of CFC-11 are on the rise, suggesting someone may be secretly manufacturing the pollutant in violation of an international accord.
- by Chris Mooney
Exclusive
Hospitals
When hospitals are making people sick: Health sector's role in saving the planet
If you knew how many people were admitted to hospital as a result of your car’s emissions, would you act?
- by Kate Aubusson
Toxic chemicals found in central Queensland ports
Toxic chemicals from firefighting foam have been found at the Queensland ports of Gladstone and Bundaberg, with fears it has contaminated groundwater.
- by Laura Polson & Sonia Kohlbacher
Pollution
Probe after Gorgon releases millions of tonnes of greenhouse gas
The environmental watchdog said 80 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions had to be reinjected underground - but 18 months have passed and still no reinjection.
- by Emma Young
Malcolm Turnbull
'Appalling': Government won't budge on polluted land buyout
Government won't buy out owners of the polluted land around military bases in spite of "fairly consistent evidence" linking them to a slew of health effects.
- by Carrie Fellner
Architecture
Wanted: someone who can fix the Taj Mahal
Foreigners, Australians among them, are eyeing up an opportunity to help save the Taj Mahal from pollution after India's Supreme Court ordered a search abroad for experts to stem the damage to the building.
- by Amrit Dhillon